La-La Land has announced two new limited edition CDs to be released next week -- a deluxe, 2-disc edition of John Harrison's score for George Romero's 1985 sequel DAY OF THE DEAD, and an expanded version of Danny Elfman's score for the 1994 remake of BLACK BEAUTY, starring Sean Bean, David Thewlis, Peter Cook, Eleanor Bron, and Alan Cumming as the voice of Black Beauty (I did not make that up), featuring arguably the most gorgeous theme Elfman has ever written. And on October 22, the label plans to release a CD of music from the popular supernatural mystery series GRIMM, composed by Richard Marvin (U-571, Six Feet Under, Surrogates).

The latest release from Kritzerland -- now in stock and ready to ship -- is a specially priced two-disc set featuring two scores written for the same film -- the 1988 sci-fi thriller ALIEN NATION, which starred James Caan as an L.A. cop and Mandy Patinkin as his alien partner, co-starring Terence Stamp as, of course, the villain; the film also inspired a popular TV series. The Final Conflict's Graham Baker was the director, and the first score written and recorded for the film was composed by Jerry Goldsmith but went completely unused in the final cut; it was released for the first time a few years ago by the Varese Sarabande CD Club. The replacement score was composed by Curt Sobel -- best known as a music editor (Risky Business, La Bamba, The Monster Squad, The Bourne Ultimatum), but also the composer of such scores as Defenseless, Cast a Deadly Spell, and the Young Indiana Jones episode "Transylvania, January 1918." Kritzerland's Alien Nation features the Goldsmith score on Disc One and the Sobel score on Disc Two, and is limited to 1200 units.

On October 19, the Golden State Pops Orchestra will hold a Varese Sarabande 35th Anniversary Halloween Gala concert at the Warner Grand Theater, currently to feature appearances by such composers as Nathan Barr, Marco Beltrami, John Debney, Randy Edelman and Christopher Young.

October 4 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "You'll Be the Death of Me" (1963)
October 4 - John Williams begins recording his score to Penelope (1966)
October 4 - BT born Brian Transeau (1970)
October 5 - Harold Faltermeyer born (1952)
October 5 - Jerry Fielding's score for the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" is recorded (1967)
October 6 - Stanley Myers born (1933)
October 6 - Giuseppe Becce died (1973)
October 6 - Nelson Riddle died (1985)
October 6 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers" (1989)
October 7 - Gabriel Yared born (1949)
October 7 - Marco Beltrami born (1968)
October 8 - Walter Schumann born (1913)
October 8 - Toru Takemitsu born (1930)
October 8 - Frank Skinner died (1968)
October 9 - Camille Saint-Saens born (1835)
October 10 - John Green born (1908)
October 10 - Giant opens in New York (1956)
October 10 - Hawaii opens in New York (1966)
October 10 - Michael Giacchino born (1967)

DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?

DON JON - Nathan Johnson

"An assured directorial debut as we’ve seen in recent years, Gordon-Levitt’s comedy is vibrant and poignant and moves like a shark with nary a dull second. Its wit and sincerity are refreshing and all of its energetic visual flair is generally in service of sharp laughs. Nathan Johnson’s ('Looper' score is particularly hysterical in any of the movie’s 'magical' falling in love sequences, where harps and swooning strings break out to full effect."

Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist

"Gordon-Levitt does a lot of pushing in 'Don Jon' -- through voiceover, flashy editing, and well-executed but slightly obtrusive musical cues -- to telegraph what the audience should be thinking. That works better than it could, or should, but it sometimes comes across a little overeager, as if Gordon-Levitt wants to make sure everyone is as excited about what’s going on onscreen as he is. Such enthusiasm can be appealing, especially when directed toward interesting themes like the ones he’s grappling with here; but it would be nice to see him slow down from time to time, and let a thought really develop before moving on to the next one."

"After a few quick scenes in the research station's kitchen, where Hortense Laborie (Catherine Frot) is making incredibly elaborate food, we're thrown into flashback. Hortense is being whisked from her truffle farm in a government car to catch a train to Paris. Someone in government wants a chef, but precisely whom that would be has been left vague. Bang, we're in Paris, where Hortense learns that she is being offered the job of personal chef to President François Mitterand. The music, the snappy script and the editing have carried us along so quickly it feels almost like a thriller."

Hank Sartin, RogerEbert.com

"Directed by Christian Vincent, the film has little flair other than the gorgeous shots of the food by Laurent Dailland. The score from Oscar winner Gabriel Yared feels incredibly safe and boring, even for someone who wrote the music for 'City of Angels'"